[huh? why the hell can't he put away his own damned extra futon and linen, it's not like Renji asked for ninja feet in his face when he's trying to sleep--]
[it's done quickly and with very little thought; efficiently stacked and stored and out of sight just as easily as it had all been laid out the first time. funny, how that goes. not long after he's done, another text goes out:]
are you around?
[read: do you want company, or am i keeping out of your hair for a while]
[there's no reply, but by the time Zura returns there's freshly made and steaming tea waiting on the lounge table, Renji sat staring with mild intensity at the TV screen while it permanently boasts the tagline "My third head had a one night stand - and now we're pregnant!" and the whole space filled with the (low volume, 10 bars of a possible 60) yammering drone of three disgruntled voices as they argue the technicalities of the irresistibility of some one-time lover's backside]
Re: actionitsnotzuraSeptember 7 2011, 07:49:25 UTC
[the man returns with much less fanfare than usual -- there are no shouts for Elizabeth, no gushing over the truly masterful skills with which he haggled]
[sandals are removed, haori discarded, and the tea is automatically homed in on like a beacon]
[there's a glance up, brief, at the sound of pouring tea, as if Renji's mildly surprised to find him there (almost true; if it weren't for the quiet hum of a faint but familiar reiryoku he'd become so attuned to, he might have missed the homecoming altogether). but a quick look is enough, and bullet bright eyes turn back to the TV screen]
[it feels like prying. like he's staring through the window of a private hideaway room - not walking in exactly, but what's the difference? if you move around enough, look around enough, you can get a good enough picture of a room just by looking through its window]
[but this room's important, and for the moment it's been left unlocked with nobody around to guard it. he'll take up the watch, but the least he can do is turn away from the temptation of looking inside]
[he sounds about as interested as he might if a comment had just been passed on the particular hue of black that space is exhibiting that evening, and he's struggling to find a suitable response when Katsura removes the need for one
( ... )
[he gets it. naruto was a stubborn, strong kid. if he worked out nothing else, he got that]
[a nod comes with the latter statement - if anything was a weird enough situation to render strength of will harmless, it was this. this ship in this crazy space that plucked up and dropped down as it saw fit]
... yeah. Figure ya just got stuck on the bad end o' the exception t'that rule.
[the samurai hums a quiet assent, and after a long few moments, rises to his feet]
[for just a moment, he bears the air of someone who's been battered by quite a lot of loss in their life, instead of an bushido-obsessed absent-minded terrorist/cross-dresser. there's a steeling there, a pressing down of that lump of misfortune, straight down on top of the others born]
[as painful as this particular setback is, it won't hold him back (maybe for better, but probably for worse)]
Forgive me. I suppose I should take a more youthful perspective. I am not aging as well as Renji-kun has. [then, brusquely, as if to push right past the entire situation with practicality] Have you eaten yet?
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[oh.]
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are you around?
[read: do you want company, or am i keeping out of your hair for a while]
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[read; ???]
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[sandals are removed, haori discarded, and the tea is automatically homed in on like a beacon]
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[the expression on a wan face is caught somewhere between exhausted and distracted]
[it's only after he's taken a long, deep drink, that he mumbles]
Haa... it's a rerun, hn? I thought the new season was starting soon...
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[it feels like prying. like he's staring through the window of a private hideaway room - not walking in exactly, but what's the difference? if you move around enough, look around enough, you can get a good enough picture of a room just by looking through its window]
[but this room's important, and for the moment it's been left unlocked with nobody around to guard it. he'll take up the watch, but the least he can do is turn away from the temptation of looking inside]
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Next week. Missed the end o' this one last time, figured I'd catch it again.
[(he hadn't watched it the first time, just like he wasn't watching it now.)]
[respectfully keeping his back to that window]
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...The father is not who you think it is. It's the second head, with the weird facial tattoo. He forgot to take his birth control.
[they could pass the afternoon like this, easily -- they could pass weeks, if they put their minds to it, in this same thrum of absent conversation]
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[he doesn't want to put his mind to it. he's already lost one newly precious person; he won't ignore the other]
[he opens that window Renji's so carefully guarding, leans out just enough to seek the fresh air]
Ah... it is pathetic, really. It has hardly been long enough to begin to miss him. He has had longer stays on the toilet.
[he's not talking about any of those bickering b-movie heads]
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[he sounds about as interested as he might if a comment had just been passed on the particular hue of black that space is exhibiting that evening, and he's struggling to find a suitable response when Katsura removes the need for one ( ... )
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[it's not in surprise -- he's known for a very, very long time, that Renji is, despite all evidence to the contrary, wise in his own way]
I suppose... I had foolishly thought he wasn't able to be ripped from anything unwillingly. But then, that is how we all came to be here, aa?
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[a nod comes with the latter statement - if anything was a weird enough situation to render strength of will harmless, it was this. this ship in this crazy space that plucked up and dropped down as it saw fit]
... yeah. Figure ya just got stuck on the bad end o' the exception t'that rule.
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[for just a moment, he bears the air of someone who's been battered by quite a lot of loss in their life, instead of an bushido-obsessed absent-minded terrorist/cross-dresser. there's a steeling there, a pressing down of that lump of misfortune, straight down on top of the others born]
[as painful as this particular setback is, it won't hold him back (maybe for better, but probably for worse)]
Forgive me. I suppose I should take a more youthful perspective. I am not aging as well as Renji-kun has. [then, brusquely, as if to push right past the entire situation with practicality] Have you eaten yet?
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